General Questions

I completed these programs at another institution, do I have to complete them again?

If you have completed any of the Prevention Education programs at another institution, you are not required to complete these programs again. However, you will need to provide verification of program completion from your previous institution in order to satisfy these requirements. You may contact your previous institution and request that your verification of completion of the EverFi program be sent to Trail.Bundy@umontana.edu.

Do I have to complete these programs if I am older than 21?

Yes. As a learning community, we strongly value creating and sustaining a healthy campus environment and preparing our students to be responsible and successful citizens of our campus, society, and the world more broadly. Although you may not believe these courses are not applicable to you due to your age, we want to ensure you have all of the resources you need in order to help others including your friends, family, and peers at UM.

Can I complete Part 2 sooner than 30 days?

The 30 day intersession period is intended to assess retention of the materials presented in Part 1 of each program. If you completed Part 1 by the deadline, your registration should not be delayed. However, if you didn't complete Part 1 by the deadline, don't worry. Please complete Part 2 as soon as it becomes accessible to you. Please call our office with any concerns you may have at 406-243-5225.

Why am I being asked to complete these programs?

The Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education (OCHE) of the State of Montana partnered with EverFi, a company whose mission is to help students address critical life skills such as alcohol abuse prevention, sexual assault prevention, and financial literacy. Each year more than 500,000 students complete these online courses. All of EverFi's programs deliver an effective means for helping students practice safe and healthy choices. They also provide participants with a common baseline of knowledge and awareness of alcohol issues and strengthens a shared set of campus norms and expectations around alcohol use and sexual assault awareness.

AlcoholEDU

What is AlcoholEDU?

AlcoholEdu is a confidential, online alcohol prevention program used by more than 500 college and university campuses nationwide. This Population-Level Prevention program is designed to challenge students' expectations about alcohol while enabling them to make healthy and safe decisions.

Whether or not a student drinks alcohol, the program will empower them to make well-informed decisions about alcohol, link their choices about drinking/not drinking to academic and personal success, and help them better cope with the drinking behavior of peers

How does it work?

This course will collect critical data on student attitudes and behaviors toward alcohol–including students' readiness to change their behavior, what protective factors or high-risk factors they exhibit, and what expectations they have toward alcohol. All of this data will help us better understand and meet the needs of our students.

EverFi will notify us when our students aggregate AlcoholEdu results are available. We will be able to compare our data to other data sets, including EverFi’s AlcoholEdu national aggregate data and data from peer institutions also using the course.

We have coordinated across various departments to create an AlcoholEdu Team. This team will continue to collaborate after this initial implementation period to help reinforce key concepts, evaluate current services and programs and create discussion opportunities with students as they face many decisions during their transition into college.

Students who use Screen Readers

Preliminary testing has revealed that AlcoholEdu is not fully compatible with screen readers. A full transcript of AlcoholEdu has been made available for students using screen readers. As an alternative to the AlcoholEdu online course students can use this transcript to read and understand the material provided in AlcoholEdu. Once you have completed this process please send an email to IT Central with your full name and student identification number. Students requesting modifications to take the tutorial or review the full transcript are asked to contact Disability Services for Students (DSS). Contact DSS at 406-243-2243 or dss@umontana.edu.

Bystander Intervention Training

Where is bystander training located?

The trainings are located in the Curry Health Center. You can come to the SARC office which is located through the East Entrance, up the stairs and the first door on the left. From there someone will direct you to the room that the training will be located.

Are trainings mandatory?

Yes, The University of Montana is partnered with the Department of Justice to hold bystander trainings.

What is the Bystander Intervention Training?

A one hour, in person training that teaches students techniques to successfully intervene when they see others in danger. SARC presents on how students should be Pro-social Bystanders.

Do I have to register for the training?

There is no registering for the Bystander Training. You are able to show up on the date and times, listed on the SARC website.

When is the next training?

You will find an up to date list on the SARC website with all the training dates and times.

I have class/work during the times of the trainings, what should I do?

SARC tries to schedule trainings on several different days and times. SARC also have trainings scheduled during summer, winter, and spring break to accommodate those who cannot make certain days and times.

Who needs to take the Bystander Training?

All students who are new to the University of Montana and Missoula College, this includes transfer students.

Personal Empowerment Through Self-Awareness (PETSA)

What is PETSA?

Personal Empowerment Through Self-Awareness (PETSA) is the cornerstone of UM’s campaign to address issues of sexual violence. It is an online tutorial designed to educate the entire campus community.

Who is it for?

PETSA is for the entire UM community and anyone interested in ending sexual violence. All students are required to complete the PETSA online tutorial and quiz. We invite everyone to explore this website, view the videos, and offer feedback.

How does it work?

PETSA is an online tutorial in Moodle that comprises a number of short videos and a quiz. It takes 20-30 minutes to complete. All students must complete the tutorial before registering for future semester courses.

So is PETSA saying that all men are rapists?

No! Not all men are rapists. Not all women are victims either. But according to the Department of Justice, 99% of rapists are men, and 96% of rape victims are women. This means rape is not an equal opportunity crime with regard to gender. It also means that paying close attention to the way gender intersects power is an important part of understanding why and how it happens.

Can men be victims of rape too?

Yes, they can. The national Institute for Justice and the CDC estimate that about 3% of men have experienced an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. Other data estimates this number to be closer to 10%. Another study estimated that about 3% of boys in grades 5-8 and 5% of boys in grades 9-12 said they had been sexually abused. Many researchers believe that rape against men is a crime that is underreported because of societal issues related to stigma and masculinity, and this stat is likely to be extremely low. While this isn’t an equal opportunity crime, there is something that boys and girls, men and women share with regard to power-based personal violence. It leaves victims feeling traumatized, confused, scared, and often overwhelmed. It creates scars that can last a lifetime.

Is rape just a heterosexual phenomenon?

No! It isn’t. Rape is a crime that is also perpetrated in the LGBTQ community and to LGBTQ people. Our knowledge about the frequency of sexual assault in the LGBTQ community is limited largely due to the heterosexual bias in our reporting and laws. It exists and leaves victims feeling alone, scared and confused.

What should I take away from this training?

No student should have to be profoundly impacted by personal violence because they lacked information about when, why and how it occurs. We want you to know how to reduce your risk of being assaulted and how to reduce your risk of committing assault.

If you have been a victim of an assault and want to talk with someone about it, call SARC (Student Advocacy Resource Center at the University of Montana) at 243-6559 free of charge. The advocates at SARC can help you talk about your experiences and walk you through your options. You can also request help from UM’s Counseling Services at Curry Health Center on campus. They can be reached at 243-4711. You can also contact the Dean of Students Rhondie Voorhees at 243- 6143 or the Title IX Coordinator, Eric Gutierrez, at 243-5710 to report.

You can intervene in a situation that you know is not right. And you can make a difference. We know that most men do not rape. We also know that everyone can do something to intervene. So stand up, don’t stand by. If you want to get involved to end sexual violence, contact Brent Hildebrand of Advocates for Non-Violence/Men of Strength Club at 243-5336.

I hear that in the state of Montana, it is my legal right to have an advocate with me if I am a victim of assault, but what is an advocate?

An advocate is someone who provides crisis counseling support and referrals to victims of sexual or interpersonal violence. They are there to listen, believe you, provide you with information and help you make the best possible decision for you about what happens next. They can talk with you about your medical needs, your legal rights, your reporting options to the University and/or to law enforcement, and talk about the healing process. What you say to an advocate is protected by law as confidential. People at SARC are advocates. You can also call the Missoula YWCA 24 hours a day at 542-1944 to talk to an advocate.

What if I am not ready to report something that happened to me?

If you are a victim of assault and you are not ready to report it, that’s okay. We encourage you to contact UM’s SARC 243-6559 or Counseling Services 243-4711 just to talk. Talking through the feelings, thoughts and memories you may have about an incident that happened to you is really important. You have options. And the advocates at SARC or the counselors at Counseling Services can help you talk through them and help you make the best decision for you.

If I report a sexual assault or an incident of sexual misconduct to the University and my underage friends and I were drinking in connection with the incident, will we be disciplined by the University?

No! The University strongly encourages students to report instances of sex-based discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual misconduct involving students. Therefore, students who report information to the University about sexual misconduct will not be disciplined by the University for any violation of the University’s drug or alcohol possession or consumption policies in which they might have engaged in connection with the reported incident.

Is there anything else I need to know to understand this issue on campus?

Yes! Know that all students at the University of Montana are accountable to the University's Discrimination, Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, Stalking, and Retaliation policy and accompanying Discrimination Grievance Procedures, the UM Student Conduct Code, and all relevant state and federal laws. Students found responsible for violating these policies can face University sanctions such as disciplinary warning, probation, suspension or expulsion from the institution. Offenses that are violations of University policy and are also violations of state or federal laws can be prosecuted separately through the legal system and if the person is found guilty, can result in civil or criminal penalties, such as probation, fines, jail, and/or prison.

So does this mean that a student may be held responsible under both the University’s policies and the law?

Yes! However, it's also important to understand that the two processes operate independently from one another. Even if there is a parallel criminal or civil proceeding in the courts, if a student is alleged to have violated University policies, the University does not wait for criminal or civil charges to be filed or for a student to be found guilty in a court of law before pursuing its own administrative proceeding and, if applicable, issuing University sanctions.

Haven Plus

What is Haven Plus?

An online program that provides sexual assault prevention training tailored to upper-division students. At UM, Haven Plus is required of all new (transfer) juniors and continuing juniors with 60-89 credits. There are two parts, you will need to complete both. Part 1 takes approximately 45 – 60 minutes to complete. Thirty days after you finish Part 1 you will receive an email prompting you to complete Part 2, which takes only 15 minutes.

Transit

What is Transit?

Transit Financial Wellness is an online interactive course designed to help students take control of their financial futures. Topics covered include student loan default prevention, savings & banking, credits scores, insurance & taxes, credit cards, investing, and 401ks.